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Once Upon a Forest (1993)
The Avengers Mission/Adventures of Once Upon a Forest The story opens in a forest known as Dapplewood, where "Furlings" (a term for animal children) live alongside their teacher, Cornelius ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Crawford Michael Crawford]). The four Furlings central to the story are Abigail ([http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ellen_Blain&action=edit&redlink=1 Ellen Blain]), a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodmouse woodmouse]; Russell ([http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Paige_Gosney&action=edit&redlink=1 Paige Gosney]), a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedgehog hedgehog]; Edgar ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benji_Gregory Benji Gregory]), a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mole_(animal) mole]; and a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badger badger] named Michelle ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_Moss Elisabeth Moss]), who is Cornelius' niece. One day, the Furlings go on a trip through the forest with Cornelius, where they see a road for the first time. Russell is almost run over by a careless driver, who throws away a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Once_Upon_a_Forest# glass bottle], which shatters in the middle of the road. Cornelius orders the Furlings to forget the road altogether. The ramble ends in a boat ride. Afterward, they go back to the forest to find out that it has been destroyed with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poison_gas poison gas] from an overturned [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanker_truck tanker truck] that blew a tire from the broken glass bottle while transporting chlorine gas. Michelle runs to her home worried about her parents, breathing some of the gas and become severely ill. The gas inside the house has already killed both of her parents. Abigail manages to save Michelle, and the Furlings go to Cornelius' house nearby for shelter after they found their homes deserted. There, Cornelius tells the Furlings that they need to fetch two herbs that can save Michelle's life: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulmonaria lungwort] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphrasia eyebright]. With limited time, they head off for their journey the next day. After encountering numerous dangers including a hungry [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barn_owl barn owl], a flock of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Once_Upon_a_Forest# religious] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wren wrens] including their reverend Phineas ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Vereen Ben Vereen]), and intimidating [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Construction_equipment construction equipment], which the wrens call "yellow dragons", the Furlings make it to the meadow with the herbs they need. There, they meet the bully squirrel Waggs ( who insulted Michelle), and Willy, a tough but sensible mouse. After getting the eyebright, they discover that the lungwort is on a giant cliff making it inaccessible by foot. Russell suggests they use Cornelius' airship, the Flapper-Wing-a-Ma-Thing, to get to the lungwort. The Furlings manage to get the lungwort after dangerous flight up the cliff, then steer their airship back for Dapplewood. They crash-land back in the forest after a storm, and bring the herbs to Michelle and Cornelius. A group of humans who come to clean up the gas' mess appear, the animals escape through the backdoor of Cornelius's house. Unfortunately, Edgar gets separated from the group, and (after losing his glasses), gets caught in an old trap. When one of the workers finds him, the animals are at first worried about their friend, but are surprised when he frees Edgar and smashes the trap before stuffing it in his trash bag, an act Cornelius never expected a human to do, making him realise that there are good humans in the world. After taking Cornelius to the site where they crashed, the Furlings give him the herbs to cure Michelle. The next day, she wakes up from her coma after a teardrop from her uncle fearing her to be dead. The Furlings' families and many of the other inhabitants arrive as well, except for Michelle's mother and father, who were killed in the gas accident but Corneilus promised to look after her. The Furlings happily reunite with their families, who are relieved to see that their children are alright. Michelle asks Cornelius if anything will ever be the same again. Cornelius looks at the dead trees in the forest and says to her that if everyone works as hard to save Dapplewood as the Furlings did to save Michelle, it will be. The film ends with an overhead shot of Dapplewood to show that much of the forest is still alive and that there is still hope to rebuild and make a home.=